Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying

It’s been five weeks since the Hungarian Grand Prix but the Belgian GP weekend started just the same as the past few races … with heavy rain 🙁 There was almost no running in Free Practice 1 or FP2, so I didn’t bother to create a separate blog entry.

Fortunately it’s dry for Qualifying, and the forecast is for race day to be dry too. Air temperature 16°C; track 26°C; wind 3m/s

Qualifying 3
Battling over the top 10 grid spots: JB, SP, KR, MW*, LH, KK, FA, RG, PRe, PM
(*MW has a 5 grid spot penalty for a gearbox change)
KR 1:48.205
LH struggles with massive oversteer
JB 1:47.686
PM pits without setting a time
5mins left of Q3; only KR & JB have set lap times
Radio for JB confirms he’s 0.5sec faster than KR
3mins left; cars are heading back onto the track
FA sitting a long time in the garage without tyre warmers
LH has to jink around SP at the pit exit – why was SP almost stationary, blocking the exit? Will either driver get a penalty?
Chequered flag; order is JB, KR, and no other lap times, but everyone’s on track for a single flying lap
KK P2
PM P3
PRe P5
KR doesn’t improve on P4
MW P5
FA P5
JB 1:47.573 – I think his P1 time was already pretty safe
LH P7
SP P5
Front of the grid: JB, KK, PM, KR, SP, FA, MW*, LH, RG, PRe

That’s JB’s first ever pole for McLaren! 🙂

Sauber P2 and P5, Williams P3 and Lotus P4 – what a mix of teams at the front!